Country profilesCanada

Humanitarian profile

A former British colony, Canada is significant in global humanitarian relief efforts. It says it aims to work towards lasting peace and stability in fragile states such as Sudan, Afghanistan, Haiti and Pakistan. Canada is one of 22 richer countries that have pledged to give 0.7 percent of gross national product in international aid, but it has not yet fixed a date by when to achieve this target. An OECD review in 2007 said the country ought to focus on fewer countries in order to generate a stronger impact and voice.

Country snapshot

Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per-capita income, ranked by the United Nations as one of the best countries in the world in which to live. A land of wilderness and rich farmland, cosmopolitan cities and tiny fishing villages, it is the world second largest country after Russia but its population is only one-fifth of Russia's. Its relationship with the United States is a defining factor for Canada, which has close economic links with its powerful southern neighbour but pursues a distinctively separate foreign policy.

Government

Canada is governed as a federal, parliamentary democracy. The head of state is the British monarch represented in Canada by a governor-general appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister, the head of government, for a five-year term. The bicameral parliament consists of a 105 seat senate (upper house), whose members are appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister and serve until they are 75 years old. The 308-seat House of Commons (lower house) is elected by direct popular vote for a four-year term. 

The governing party remains in power for as long as it retains majority support in the House of Commons. The prime minister is the leader of the governing party. Each province is governed by a prime minister and a single chamber, elected legislature.

Economy

Canada is one of the few developed nations that is an energy exporter.  Eastern Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas and there are immense oil and gas reserves in Alberta. The Athabasca oil sands give Canada the second largest oil reserves behind Saudi Arabia.

It is one of the world's largest producers of zinc and uranium and an important producer gold, nickel, lead and aluminum. The prairies are one of the world's most productive grain producing regions. 

Southern Ontario and Quebec are at the centre of Canada's manufacturing industry with important automobile and aviation industries. The 1989 U.S. - Canada Free Trade Agreement and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) dramatically increased Canada's economic integration with the U.S. Three quarter of Canadian exports go to the United States from which it receives over 60 percent of its imports. 

Economic growth averaged 2.6 percent between 1990 and 2006 but slowed sharply in 2008 as the global recession began to bite. The credit crisis did far less damage to Canada's banks than to those in the U.S. and in Britain due to their conservative lending practices and strong balance sheets.

History

Canada was colonised by French and British settlers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and became a solely British colony after French forces were defeated at Quebec in 1759.  After home rule was granted in 1867 Britain was theoretically able to override the Canadian parliament and constitution.

This ended in 1982 when Canada established complete sovereignty over its constitution.  Discord between the French speaking majority in Quebec and the English-speaking majority in the rest of Canada has been a longstanding feature. Quebec held referendums in 1980 and in 1995 on whether to secede from Canada; both were defeated by majorities of 60 and 50.6 percent respectively. 

Nevertheless, Quebec politicians have played a major role in Canadian politics. Quebecers served as federal prime minister almost continuously from 1968 to 2006, leading both the centre-left Liberal Party and the centre-right Conservatives.  Stephen Harper, a member of parliament from Calgary, Alberta, has been prime minister since 2006 at the head of a minority Conservative government. 

Legal snapshot

Criminal law, based largely on English law, is uniform throughout the country and is under federal jurisdiction. Civil law is also based on English common law except in Quebec which has its own civil code based on French law.  Justice is administered by federal, provincial and municipal courts.

The level of official corruption is low. From being ranked 14 in 2005/06 in Transparency International's 180 nation corruption perception index, Canada has climbed up to a ranking of 8 in recent years, the best in the Americas. Some critics have pointed to instances of white collar crime which judicial authorities have been slow to pursue or ignored altogether.  For example, Conrad Black, a Canadian, was jailed for fraud in the U.S. but never charged in Canada though some of his offences were committed there.